Now that I'm an adult, I feel a little bad for what young Lindsay put her mother through. I was the pickiest eater: if dinner didn't involve cheese or butter, I probably wasn't interested. My mom did an admirable job of convincing me that I would enjoy every meal she cooked, sneaking vegetables into sauces and converting dishes I enjoyed into similar meals. Macaroni and cheese was transformed into the recipe below by adding BBQ sauce and beans, ingredients I wouldn't touch if it wasn't called Mac and Cheese!
This hearty, one-pot pasta dish is easy to customize. Substitute any type of beans for the black beans, and any kind of shaped pasta (like ziti or farfalle) for the elbows. Feel free to sneak some vegetables in there; this meal will be so delicious the picky eaters in your family will never know what hit them.
Slow cooker BBQ Chicken Chili Mac
6
10 minutes
4 hours 30 minutes
4 hours 40 minutes
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
1 19-9oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 14.5-ounce can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
1 7-oz can diced green chiles, drained
1 cup frozen sweet corn kernels
1 cup barbecue sauce
2 cups chicken broth
3 cups dried elbow macaroni
2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
In a 6-quart slow cooker, combine the chicken, beans, chili powder, cumin, diced tomatoes, green chiles, corn, barbecue sauce, and chicken broth.
Cook on low, covered, for 4 hours, until the chicken is tender and cooked through.
30 minutes before serving, add the macaroni and turn the slow cooker on high. Cook, covered, for 20-30 minutes, until the pasta is cooked to al dente.
Stir in the cheese and serve.
